SB 2796 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO TAXATION.

Summary

Imposes the manufacturing general excise tax rate on motion picture, digital media, and film productions and repeals the provision in the definition of "qualified production costs" that applied the term to mean costs incurred that are subject to the highest general excise tax rate. Exempts from the general excise tax amounts received by a motion picture project employer from a client company equal to amounts that are disbursed by the motion picture project employer for employee wages, salaries, payroll taxes, insurance premiums, and employment benefits and payments to loan-out companies. Effective 1/1/2050. (SD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB2796 → SB2796_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates legislative metadata to reflect the first Senate District committee version and reorganizes the effective dates for various tax provisions. The most significant substantive change is moving the effective date for the entire Act from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2050, which delays the implementation of new tax rules and exemptions by over two decades. Additionally, the bill clarifies the definition of 'production' in manufacturing tax contexts and adjusts the effective dates for specific sections to align with the new overall timeline.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on Hawaii's general excise and privilege taxes, but the applicability of new rules is significantly delayed to 2050.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the entire Act was changed from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2050, delaying the implementation of new tax provisions.

The effective dates for Sections 2 and 3 were updated to January 1, 2027, to remain consistent with the new overall Act effective date.

DEFINITION

The term 'production' was added to the list of taxable manufacturing activities in Section 237-13.

TECHNICAL

Metadata fields such as bill numbers, sponsor names, and revision numbers were updated to reflect the Senate District 1 version.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2211) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fukunaga, Kim, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors